Back to the office safely with Sycor.Back2Work: The story behind the app
Back to the office in times of Corona? How can this be achieved safely? Our colleagues in China had to face this challenge early on and have created a digital solution. From an initial idea, our app Sycor.Back2Work was developed, and is now in use in several countries and continues to develop.
The coronavirus still has a firm grip on the world, but more and more measures are taking place to slowly "return to normal". For some, this includes returning to work. Our colleagues in Shanghai were some of the first to go back to the office - but with the requirement to create a weekly attendance report. So the idea was born to create this report digitally - with Microsoft PowerApps of course. What worked well and made sense in China, we thought, could also help other Sycor employees across the world when it's time to get back to the office. So the idea spread to our HQ in Germany and the development of the Sycor.Back2Work app began.
Continuous development
In just 14 days, the app was replicated and adapted in Microsoft Power Apps. The marketing of the free app started at the beginning of May. From the very beginning, it was important to Sycor that the app be available in its full functional range, unlimited, and free of charge, as not to make an economic profit from the pandemic. The publication of the app on the basis of the low-code platform Microsoft Power Platform and under MIT license (Open Source), enables every company to carry out its own customizations or to have them implemented by Sycor.
"This project is particularly close to my heart because it has opened the eyes of many companies to how easy it can be to implement both small and very large processes with the Power Platform. In most cases, no additional license or software is required with existing board resources," says Jan Timphaus, Power Platform Evangelist.
Meanwhile, the Sycor.Back2Work app is in use on several continents, including internally at Sycor. The app has been a great help for companies from various industries in organizing office spaces and protecting their employees. Every company has its own individual requirements. It is impressive to see the adaptations and extensions that have been made since the release of the free Sycor.Back2Work app. The end of this development is not yet foreseeable and companies continue to contact us with their developments and know-how.
One example is the cooperation with grandcentrix: The IoT-Solution Provider grandcentrix extended the app with a software and hardware component. With RFID tokens and readers, it allows employees to check in. This is a practical addition to the use of the currently used QR codes.
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